Ataraxean
01-31-2011, 04:39 PM
The below is a initial list I'm looking at fielding for an escalation event going on at my FLGS over the next month or two.
Games are to be played on a 4x4 Table at the current points level (1000 Pts). I decided to go a different direction from my usual Mech/Mixed Mech Guard lists, and go for a straight footslogging list, featuring Captain Al'Rahem. I'm expecting the opposition to be fairly well spread. The usual pile of MEQ, plus a reasonable dose of Xenos.
I feel confident in the basic form of the list. At this point I'm just curious to get some feedback and thoughts, from folks without my tunnel vision. Any wargear suggestions, list tweaking, or serious problems folk would expect the list to encounter would be appreciated.
Cheers
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The List (1000Pts Even)
CCS w/ Astropath, Regimental Standard, & 3x Flamers
Infantry Platoon 1
- PCS w/ Al-Rahem & 3x Melta
-50 Man IG Blob w/ Commissar & 5x Plasma Gun
-SWS w/ 3x Melta
Infantry Platoon 2
-PCS w/ 3x Flamers
-20 Man Blob w/ 2x Lascannon
-HWS w/ 3x Autocannon
-HWS w/ 3x Autocannon
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My Thoughts on how the list will play:
1. Al'Raheems Platoon (~550 Points of the list) goes for the mandatory out-flank, while the rest of the list sets up a firebase in one corner or another to pull the other army towards that board edge.
2. The heavy weapons teams and the lascannon squads (blobbed), work on opening any transports while they wait for the outflankers to show up. The Regimental Standard should keep them on the board through return fire, and the company commander can keep some tasty anti-tank orders coming out.
3. The flamers in the CCS and the PCS give me a halfway decent way to discourage things getting too close to the firebase.
4. The astropath should guarantee I get Al-Rahem early and on the board edge I want.
5. When Al'Rahem arrives, ideally there will be one or more infantry targets in range of a board edge that he can have the 50 man blob hammer on with FRFSRF. The heavy weapons will have had a minimum of 2 turns (including the one Al-Raheem arrives on) to open up any tin cans with their Bring it Down orders.
6. If there's not an infantry target, Al'Raheem will be able to use Bring it Down on the SWS and his own squad to get me three to six melta shots to try and open things up for at least a regular rapid firing.
7. Once Al-Raheem's guys come in, I start picking targets and exterminating them one by one with close range lasgun fire, while the heavy weapons keep the pressure on. I'll be oozing scoring units (almost 100%), so objectives should be a snap.
==================================================
General Concerns:
1. The Al'Rahem Blob is very vulnerable to being tied/locked into combat by a throw away units. I should be able to pick and choose my deployment to minimize that, but you can't cover everything.
2. The 50-Man mob is large and unwieldy, so I may have trouble bringing all the lasguns to bear on a single target without over-exposing myself to attacks or templates.
3. If reserve rolls are hard against me, the heavy weapons are gonna get creamed if my opponent is willing to suck it up and close with them (or stand and spray in the case of a solid 100% deployed shooty army). But there's nothing I can do about that, so its a worry I have to live with.
==============================================
Some tweaks I've been considering:
1. Shaving points to add power weapons (and a meltabombs or two) to all Al'Rahem's Sergeants/Commissar. 5-6 Power weapons will make the blob dangerous to go after with anything much-less than a decked out CC unit or walker. And even they'll come out of it with a lot less than they went in with.
2. Shaving points to add a third lascannon squad to the Firebase. The third lascannon and the extra warm bodies feels like a good deal in terms of extra firepower (anti-tank & anti infantry), pulling attention away from the autocannons, ect. But that may be my imagination, and love of the number 3 talking.
3. Alternatively, downgrading from lascannons to autocannons (and adding a 3rd squad). Though that makes me awful nervous about the prospect of staring down any AV-14 with naught but the melta in Al'Rahem's Platoon.
4. Shaving points and adding Sly Marbo for lolz.
5. The easiest place for points I'm seeing is dropping Al'Rahem's blob from 50 to 40 men (which may be better anyway given the unit footprint). Though a lot could also be done by shifting wargear around.
================================================== =========
Games are to be played on a 4x4 Table at the current points level (1000 Pts). I decided to go a different direction from my usual Mech/Mixed Mech Guard lists, and go for a straight footslogging list, featuring Captain Al'Rahem. I'm expecting the opposition to be fairly well spread. The usual pile of MEQ, plus a reasonable dose of Xenos.
I feel confident in the basic form of the list. At this point I'm just curious to get some feedback and thoughts, from folks without my tunnel vision. Any wargear suggestions, list tweaking, or serious problems folk would expect the list to encounter would be appreciated.
Cheers
================================================== ===
The List (1000Pts Even)
CCS w/ Astropath, Regimental Standard, & 3x Flamers
Infantry Platoon 1
- PCS w/ Al-Rahem & 3x Melta
-50 Man IG Blob w/ Commissar & 5x Plasma Gun
-SWS w/ 3x Melta
Infantry Platoon 2
-PCS w/ 3x Flamers
-20 Man Blob w/ 2x Lascannon
-HWS w/ 3x Autocannon
-HWS w/ 3x Autocannon
================================================== =====
My Thoughts on how the list will play:
1. Al'Raheems Platoon (~550 Points of the list) goes for the mandatory out-flank, while the rest of the list sets up a firebase in one corner or another to pull the other army towards that board edge.
2. The heavy weapons teams and the lascannon squads (blobbed), work on opening any transports while they wait for the outflankers to show up. The Regimental Standard should keep them on the board through return fire, and the company commander can keep some tasty anti-tank orders coming out.
3. The flamers in the CCS and the PCS give me a halfway decent way to discourage things getting too close to the firebase.
4. The astropath should guarantee I get Al-Rahem early and on the board edge I want.
5. When Al'Rahem arrives, ideally there will be one or more infantry targets in range of a board edge that he can have the 50 man blob hammer on with FRFSRF. The heavy weapons will have had a minimum of 2 turns (including the one Al-Raheem arrives on) to open up any tin cans with their Bring it Down orders.
6. If there's not an infantry target, Al'Raheem will be able to use Bring it Down on the SWS and his own squad to get me three to six melta shots to try and open things up for at least a regular rapid firing.
7. Once Al-Raheem's guys come in, I start picking targets and exterminating them one by one with close range lasgun fire, while the heavy weapons keep the pressure on. I'll be oozing scoring units (almost 100%), so objectives should be a snap.
==================================================
General Concerns:
1. The Al'Rahem Blob is very vulnerable to being tied/locked into combat by a throw away units. I should be able to pick and choose my deployment to minimize that, but you can't cover everything.
2. The 50-Man mob is large and unwieldy, so I may have trouble bringing all the lasguns to bear on a single target without over-exposing myself to attacks or templates.
3. If reserve rolls are hard against me, the heavy weapons are gonna get creamed if my opponent is willing to suck it up and close with them (or stand and spray in the case of a solid 100% deployed shooty army). But there's nothing I can do about that, so its a worry I have to live with.
==============================================
Some tweaks I've been considering:
1. Shaving points to add power weapons (and a meltabombs or two) to all Al'Rahem's Sergeants/Commissar. 5-6 Power weapons will make the blob dangerous to go after with anything much-less than a decked out CC unit or walker. And even they'll come out of it with a lot less than they went in with.
2. Shaving points to add a third lascannon squad to the Firebase. The third lascannon and the extra warm bodies feels like a good deal in terms of extra firepower (anti-tank & anti infantry), pulling attention away from the autocannons, ect. But that may be my imagination, and love of the number 3 talking.
3. Alternatively, downgrading from lascannons to autocannons (and adding a 3rd squad). Though that makes me awful nervous about the prospect of staring down any AV-14 with naught but the melta in Al'Rahem's Platoon.
4. Shaving points and adding Sly Marbo for lolz.
5. The easiest place for points I'm seeing is dropping Al'Rahem's blob from 50 to 40 men (which may be better anyway given the unit footprint). Though a lot could also be done by shifting wargear around.
================================================== =========